For the development of large multi-story buildings, the developer faces a choice between two categories of air conditioning systems—central and unitary.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a central air conditioning system for a multi-story building, which generally comprises a plurality of water-cooled air conditioners 1, often referred to as “water source units”, within the building 6, an outdoor cooling tower 3, and a conduit circuit 2 by which heat ejected from the water source units is carried by recirculating water to the cooling tower, is disadvantageous in that a large common area associated with a high maintenance facility has to be allocated to accommodate the cooling tower. A bothersome air plume 4 characterized by hot and usually humid air is discharged from the cooling tower 3. Another disadvantage of this arrangement is that the system is inefficient, particularly when used in a multi-tenant building, in order to provide cooling needs during partial loads, leading to higher monthly common expenses for all tenants.
A unitary system by which the air conditioning related electrical consumption is independently billed per apartment is therefore commonly used in multi-tenant buildings.
The most popular unitary system is a split unit system wherein each apartment has an outdoor unit that includes a compressor and a condenser, and an indoor unit consisting of an evaporator and a fan for drawing the interior air across the evaporator so that the conditioned air will be discharged via supply ducts to the space to be conditioned. Conduits through which refrigerant flows in a closed cooling or heating cycle extend between the outdoor and indoor units.
With respect to the split system, however, the developer is forced to surrender the income generating habitable space of the apartment, as well as attractive external surfaces adjacent to the facade to accommodate the outdoor unit mountings. The architect has to integrate, as shown in FIGS. 2-5, large external louvers 8 with the facade 7 for a combined air intake and discharge for use of the outdoor unit 5. A further disadvantage of the split system is that adjacent buildings have to be sufficiently separated due to the noise generated by the outdoor units and due to the lateral space occupied by the mountings.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a building structure that facilitates the installation of a split type, unitary air conditioning system that is individualized for each tenant, yet does not detract from the appearance or the dimensions of the facade.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a building structure that allows the use of internally located and inconspicuous areas of the building, rather than the highly visible facade or roof as has practiced heretofore with respect to prior art building structures, for the positioning of the outdoor units of an air conditioning system.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a building structure that facilitates the installation of a split type, unitary air conditioning system that minimizes bothersome air discharge.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.